Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings: Projecting Top Players at Every Position

Every week in the NFL presents new challenges and new opportunities for fantasy football owners across the nation.

Trying to predict which players will score the most points can be frustrating, however—especially if you have to choose between a couple of top players (you lucky son of a gun).

Thankfully, the answers to your questions in Week 8 are forthcoming. These rankings will assuage your decision-making process and help you take a set-it-and-forget-it approach to your fantasy lineup.

Quarterbacks

Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Quarterbacks

Rank

Player

Team

Opponent

Proj. Points

1

Peyton Manning

Denver Broncos

Washington Redskins

30

2

Aaron Rodgers

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

26

3

Drew Brees

New Orleans Saints

Buffalo Bills

25

4

Cam Newton

Carolina Panthers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

23

5

Matt Stafford

Detroit Lions

Dallas Cowboys

22

6

Colin Kaepernick

San Francisco 49ers

Jacksonville Jaguars

20

7

Robert Griffin III

Washington Redskins

Denver Broncos

19

8

Michael Vick

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

18

9

Tony Romo

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

17

10

Russell Wilson

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

15

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At this point, we might as well offer Peyton Manning permanent residence at the top spot of these rankings. He's been the top scorer of the season at any position, and he has another juicy matchup this weekend that will make fantasy owners happy.

Washington is one of the league's worst fantasy defenses against opposing quarterbacks, allowing 18.3 points per game. Aaron Rodgers went off for 480 yards and four touchdowns earlier this season against this team, and Manning should similarly have a huge game at home this Sunday.

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Speaking of Rodgers, he's got a tasty matchup this weekend, too, against the pathetic Minnesota Vikings. The emergence of Jarrett Boykin and Eddie Lacy have greatly improved Green Bay's offense and have helped Rodgers continue to shine even without a few of his top weapons.

Colin Kaepernick is a sleeper breakout stud this Sunday in London against Jacksonville. He has been more inclined to take off and run of late, and he finally scored his first rushing touchdown of the season last weekend against Tennessee.

Running Backs

Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Running Backs

Rank

Player

Team

Opponent

Proj. Points

1

Jamaal Charles

Kansas City Chiefs

Cleveland Browns

24

2

LeSean McCoy

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

23

3

Marshawn Lynch

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

22

4

Adrian Peterson

Minnesota Vikings

Green Bay Packers

21

5

Reggie Bush

Detroit Lions

Dallas Cowboys

20

6

Alfred Morris

Washington Redskins

Denver Broncos

19

7

Knowshon Moreno

Denver Broncos

Washington Redskins

18

8

Eddie Lacy

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

17

9

Frank Gore

San Francisco 49ers

Jacksonville Jaguars

15

10

Stevan Ridley

New England Patriots

Miami Dolphins

14

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Fun fact of the day: Jamaal Charles is the only player in the entire league with 100-plus yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in each of his first seven games, as NFLN_Playbook noted:

The Cleveland Browns aren't horrible against the run, but Charles is just as dangerous as a passer, and he's highly featured in Kansas City's dink-and-dunk offense.

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Look for LeSean McCoy to bounce back from a poor performance last weekend against the New York Giants. He struggled to find running lanes the first time these teams met up, but he'll touch the ball plenty, and volume equals production when it comes to McCoy and fantasy football.

A big sleeper for this weekend is one of the other running backs in the Philly/New York game. Peyton Hillis has good hands for a big running back, and Eli Manning has already shown a willingness to get him the ball with regularity. He touched the ball 23 times last weekend.

Wide Receivers

Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Wide Receiver

Rank

Player

Team

Opponent

Proj. Points

1

Calvin Johnson

Detroit Lions

Dallas Cowboys

24

2

Victor Cruz

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

22

3

Jordy Nelson

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

20

4

Dez Bryant

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

19

5

Demaryius Thomas

Denver Broncos

Washington Redskins

17

6

Harry Douglas

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

16

7

DeSean Jackson

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

16

8

A.J. Green

Cincinnati Bengals

New York Jets

15

9

Wes Welker

Denver Broncos

Washington

14

10

Antonio Brown

Pittsburgh Steelers

Oakland Raiders

13

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First of all, any receiver wearing a Denver Broncos uniform this weekend has a good chance of scoring in the double digits against Washington. With that out of the way, there are a couple of other intriguing matchups that heavily favor a top receiver this weekend.

Victor Cruz has been quiet for the past three weeks, but he has an ideal matchup this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, which features the worst fantasy defense in the league this year against opposing receivers.

If Hillis can pound out some decent yardage on the ground for the Giants, then Cruz should break out with a huge game, thanks to the bit of extra time a competent running game gives to quarterbacks.

Jordy Nelson also has a highly favorable matchup this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota's offense is a sinking ship right now, and its defense hasn't been good against the pass all year. Aaron Rodgers will find Nelson for a few big plays deep downfield as the Vikings' secondary breaks down.

Tight Ends

Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Tight Ends

Rank

Player

Team

Opponent

Proj. Points

1

Rob Gronkowski

New England Patriots

Miami Dolphins

19

2

Tony Gonzalez

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

18

3

Julius Thomas

Denver Broncos

Washington Redskins

16

4

Vernon Davis

San Francisco 49ers

Jacksonville Jaguars

16

5

Jason Witten

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

14

6

Jordan Cameron

Cleveland Browns

Kansas City Chiefs

13

7

Jordan Reed

Washington Redskins

Denver Broncos

11

8

*Jimmy Graham*

New Orleans Saints

Buffalo Bills

11

9

Heath Miller

Pittsburgh Steelers

Oakland Raiders

10

10

Greg Olsen

Carolina Panthers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

9

** denotes check injury report

Holy Gronkowski, what an entrance the previously injured tight end made last weekend against the New York Jets. He caught eight passes for 114 yards in his first action of the season, looking very much like the guy who torched the league for two-plus years before his broken forearm took him out.

He's got a killer matchup this weekend, too, as the Miami Dolphins have allowed opposing tight ends to feast this year to the tune of 12 points per game.

Future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez should also have a monster game, going up against the league's worst fantasy defense against tight ends. The Arizona Cardinals allow 16.3 points per game to tight ends, and Gonzalez has become a focal point for Atlanta since Julio Jones was injured.

Be cautious about starting Jimmy Graham. He's questionable to play with his foot injury, as noted by CBS Fantasy Football, and was limited in practice on Friday:

Defenses

Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Defenses

Rank

Team

Opponent

Proj. Points

1

Kansas City Chiefs

Cleveland Browns

19

2

San Francisco 49ers

Jacksonville Jaguars

17

3

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

16

4

New England Patriots

Miami Dolphins

15

5

Cincinnati Bengals

New York Jets

13

6

Pittsburgh Steelers

Oakland Raiders

12

7

Carolina Panthers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

11

8

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

10

9

New York Jets

Cincinnati Bengals

10

10

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

9

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As usual, Kansas City is a no-brainer against Cleveland. The Browns are rolling with veteran quarterback Jason Campbell this Sunday, but Cleveland's offense will still struggle to move the ball against the Chiefs, no matter who lines up behind center.

Another easy play is San Francisco in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

No team in the league scores less than the Jags, and the 49ers have been ramping up efforts on defense the past few games, forcing turnovers and tallying sacks at a high level.

Kickers

Week 8 Fantasy Rankings: Kickers

Rank

Player

Team

Opponent

Proj. Points

1

Matt Prater

Denver Broncos

Washington Redskins

16

2

Steven Hauschka

Seattle Seahawks

St. Louis Rams

15

3

Mason Crosby

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

14

4

Garrett Hartley

New Orleans Saints

Buffalo Bills

15

5

Stephen Gostkowski

New England Patriots

Miami Dolphins

14

6

Shaun Suisham

Pittsburgh Steelers

Oakland Raiders

13

7

Alex Henery

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

12

8

Dan Carpenter

Buffalo Bills

New Orleans Saints

11

9

Phil Dawson

San Francisco 49ers

Jacksonville Jaguars

10

10

Nick Folk

New York Jets

Cincinnati Bengals

10

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You can never go wrong with Matt Prater as your kicker. No team scores more often than Denver, and the trend isn't likely to change this weekend against Washington.

Mason Crosby should also get in a nice bit of work on Sunday for the Packers against Minnesota, which made New York's offense look sort of decent on Monday Night Football in Week 7.

Super-deep sleeper alert: New York Jets kicker Nick Folk could have a big game against Cincinnati. The Jets are doing a better job on offense of late, which means more scoring opportunities for the kicker.